Tazewell Dance Center
Emily Hinkle, Owner and Director
Emily had a love of dance from the time she could stand. Her dance career began in Tazewell with Bluefield Dance Theatre. After one year she moved to BDT's main studio in Bluefield and danced under the instruction of Randy Lamb for 14 years. She was a member of the award winning BDT competition team for 11 years, was a Youth Dance Ambassador for Dance Troupe, Inc. for 7 years, and was the first student at BDT to earn four ballet gold cups. Randy Lamb had a huge impact on her life and she looked up to him from her very first class. He always believed in her and always encouraged her to follow her dreams and to continue to follow her passion with a career in dance education.
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Emily began sharing her love of dance at Richlands Dance Theatre as an assistant in the 6th grade, and continued teaching there and at Bluefield Dance Theatre for 9 years.
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Emily is a 2010 graduate of Tazewell High School where she was a Bulldog Cheerleader, a member of the Forensics Team, a member of the One Act Team, and a member of the Green T's Choir. In 2009 she spent the summer in Australia as a Rotary Exchange Student and was able to dance with her exchange sister's studio.
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In 2010 Emily represented all local dancers as the lone dance performer for Minds Wide Open: Virginia Celebrates Women in the Arts at SWCC. She graduated from SWCC in 2012 with an Associates of Arts and Sciences degree in Education.
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In 2014 she received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Radford University. At RU she studied under Margaret Devaney, Danah Bella, Inessa Plekhanova, Deborah McLaughlin, Amy VanKirk, and Aleksey Plekhanov. She performed in the 2012 Nutcracker Suite, 2013 Fall Dance Fest, 2014 Student Choreography Showcase, Breath of Life Benefit Performance, and Paradigm Shift: An Evening of Women's Work.
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After Graduation from RU, Emily taught at Attitude Arts Academy for 5 years, where she was the instructor and the competition program director and choreographer. She loved working with the students, watching them grow in their dance skills, self confidence, and as wonderful, caring people.
During the spring of 2019, after winning the national dance title as 2019-2020 Young Adult Miss Ultimate Starz, Emily knew it was time to strike out on her own and follow her lifelong dream of owning her own studio in Tazewell. And so, Tazewell Dance Center was born.
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Emily was crowned 2023-2024 Adult Miss Ultimate Starz during the national competition in June, 2023.
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During the day, Emily teaches 8th grade Physical Science at Tazewell Middle School.
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Emily looks forward to sharing her talent and love of dance with her students at Tazewell Dance Center. She can't wait to nurture another generation that will love to express themselves through the art of dance.
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Kendra Vance, Instructor
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Kendra began dancing when she was five at Bluefield Dance Theatre under the instruction of Randy Lamb. She met Miss Emily who was a student teacher at BDT during this period of her life. Later she danced with Carla Johnson Keene in Richlands. Carla turned her studio over to Attitude Arts Academy where Kendra again came under the direction of Miss Emily. She was a student teacher for Carla and AAA. Kendra was a member of AAA’s first competition team and now competes with the award-winning Tazewell Dance Center Competition Dance Team.
While in high school Kendra attended a West Virginia University dance intensive. She attended Riverview High School and was a member of the graduating class of 2017. While a student there she took part in theatre, band, choir and was captain of the auxiliary team.
Kendra went to Concord University and graduated in 2021 with a BA in English with a minor in psychology. While in college she was a member of the Concord Dance and Cheer Team.
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Kendra is a teacher at Tazewell High School. She teaches 10th grade English, 12th Grade English, and Theatre.
Kendra joined the staff of Tazewell Dance Center in 2021. She won the title Young Adult Miss Ultimate Starz 2023-2024 during the national competition in June, 2023.
